As integrated circuit (IC) fabrication technology improves, manufacturers are able to integrate additional functionality onto a single silicon substrate. As the number of these functionalities increases, however, so does the number of components on a single IC chip. Additional components add additional signal switching, in turn, generating more heat. The additional heat may damage an IC chip by, for example, thermal expansion. Also, the additional heat may limit usage locations and/or applications of a computing device that includes such chips. For example, a portable computing device may solely rely on battery power for its operations. Hence, as additional functionality is integrated into portable computing devices, the need to reduce power consumption becomes increasingly important, for instance, to maintain battery power for an extended period of time. Non-portable computing systems also face cooling and power generation issues as their IC components use more power and generate more heat.
To improve power consumption efficiency, some Central Processing Units (CPUs) may allow for adjustments to their operating frequency. However, the decision regarding the frequency adjustment may not be readily visible to system integrators or other users that may be impacted directly by the frequency adjustment.